May Mystery Challenge – Bianca Jagger

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Last year, I tried to develop my sewing and blogging skills by taking part in numerous pattern tests and blog tours. And though I indeed developed and still really enjoy those things, I felt the desire to challenge my own creativity a bit more this year. Well, what better way to challenge oneself than by taking part in sewing challenges?! Hence I present my entry for this year’s May Mystery Challenge, a themed sewing challenge. All participants were matched at random and assigned their partner a theme that matched the overall theme of “Moments and People Throughout History”. Starly, from the blog Sew Starly, came up with my prompt: Bianca Jagger…

Bianca Jagger Style

I must confess though, that I wasn’t immediately thrilled by the assignment. Surfing through loads of Google images, I really enjoyed the seventies vibe and the flambuoyant style of the original Mrs Jagger. However, her style isn’t easily adapted for little girls, with all the white pantsuits, bare shoulders, fox stolas and sexy dresses. Though I increasingly do some selfish sewing, I try to work towards a more minimalist wardrobe for myself, so splashing out on many yards of fabric for something that most probably won’t be worn a lot wasn’t my project of choice.

However, after going through the info and many of the glamourous black and white images again and again, I got fascinated by this photo of Bianca Jagger’s famous birthday party in Studio 54, where she enters the club on a white horse, wearing a simple yet stunning red dress. Inspired, despite my initial doubts, I decided to recreate the atmosphere of the scene for our eldest girl.

Uptown Downtown Dress

The original dress had a wide neckline, sometimes even falling off the shoulders, half sleeves, fitted bodice and a wider maxi skirt with a huge slit. To keep the vibe, but make it wearable for a 7 years old, I used the Uptown Downtown dress pattern. This has a nice deep, round neckline, half sleeves, fitted bodice and cute wide skirt. Though it comes with the option for maxi length, I went with the regular knee length, which will be worn much more over here. The amazing photo prop, a white horse named Whitney, was kindly provided by Terpstra, a local company that offers all kinds of horse related activities, from horseback riding lessons to carriage rides along the island and pony summer camps. The very, very pregnant mare was a willing model, just like the beaming girl on her back…

Last summer, I made a sleeveless version of this pattern in a terrible synthetic purple Ponte di Roma. This time around, I used a wonderful organic red jersey, from my favourite webshop for knits, Joyfits. This lovely fabric does the sweet pattern way more justice, the skirt drapes and flows wonderfully now. I made a size 7, slightly blended to a size 8 at the waist and hem. I made the waist a bit wider and lower, since she’s getting quite tall lately, so waists tend to sit too high on her…

The strange and huge object behind her on the pic above is the bottom of a tree that was blown over in the forest nearby, the kids loved playing around and climbing in it. The dress has been worn on horseback and in a tree on its first day, so it has really passed the test of everyday wear…

More Mystery Challenge

In all, I’m very happy with both the challenge and the outcome. Just as desired, I was challenged to think further along lines I usually don’t bother, and thankfully I really love the result. It will get tons of wear, thus it even fits in with my minimalist dreams. So thank you, Starly, for the fun assignment! If you’re curious what the other participants got to work with, check out the schedule below. Today, my friend Maartje at Huisje Boompje Boefjes will show her creation as well. I’ve seen some sneak peeks of her Anne Frank-inspired project and it’s really worth to hop over!

Lol, thanks for the compliment (I think) on borrowing the horse Olu! 😉 We really had a lot of fun!

It’s a lovely pattern indeed and turned out as desired in red, however, the quality of the knit does make quite a difference on dresses of this drape I think, so I’m happy this one just plain worked out. It’s very comfy as well, so it will definitely get a lot of wear.

This is really a fantastic response to the challenge! The little red dress obviously does meet the goal you had of practical everyday wear for a little girl – and it’s not only practical, it’s also lovely. And as far as blog posts go, the photography is also stunning – so it’s all-round fun to look at.